Car-nar-von was the conclusion of my month-long residency with Carn, Caernarfon (March 2018). The residency looked at me in search of the real town. I wanted to investigate the town and put on a performance that connected to a family holiday with relatives that concluded with us be dumped in Bundaberg, Queensland. Three days’ drive from flight home in Sydney.
I found the real town not just the tourist part around the castle. Such a wealth of history friendly faces and a will to survive. As the work documented on my take over of the Carn Instagram. The words I performed at the end were a trilogy of response to My Uncle who played the main part in leaving us who we have never spoken to since (this happened in 1996). As part of the residency, I approached the local community to take part in a photography workshop.
The three poems raise the question of longing distance and unanswered questions. I also invited Welsh Musician and performance poet Sian Miriam and poet Rhys Trimble to contribute. I found it pretty brutal to perform. Sometimes wearing your heart on your sleeve can have positive effects, it’s just how you control it?
ALAN WHITFIELD 